


failure to speak

by sharoncarters



Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types, Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins, The Hunger Games (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-24
Updated: 2015-06-24
Packaged: 2018-04-06 00:41:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4201317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sharoncarters/pseuds/sharoncarters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice.” Gale has a thing for Madge. It's not a big deal.</p>
            </blockquote>





	failure to speak

**Author's Note:**

> just reposting something i was prompted to write on tumblr. nothing special, i just want all the stuff i write in one place. hope you like it!

Gale had always had a thing for Madge Undersee. It wasn’t a thing that he ever talked about, but it was a…  _thing_. Something that was always in the back of his mind; in high school, in college, even now. He didn’t like to actively think about it, but it was there nonetheless. 

And now, at Katniss and Peeta’s engagement party, he couldn’t  _stop_  thinking about it, because she was there. He knew Madge and Katniss had remained friends after college, but somehow he’d always managed to avoid seeing them together. He was quite talented at coming up with excuses at the last minute whenever Katniss mentioned Madge’s name, pretending that he had to watch Posy (who was now a teenager and didn’t even need watching), or that something had come up at work. 

Thank god Katniss was so horrible at understanding social cues, because if she knew the way he felt about Madge she’d most likely blurt it out and cause him an unnecessary amount of embarrassment. 

There was no way he could’ve gotten out of this, though. He was happy for Katniss, no matter how much he made fun of Peeta whenever he could. They were happy together, and he couldn’t begrudge Katniss that, especially after everything she’d been through. She deserved to have the life she wanted. 

Gale watched them now, as they walked around the room together, talking to guests and making small talk. The way Peeta’s eyes couldn’t leave her face for more than a second, the way Katniss seemed to almost glow in a way that she never had before. 

And he also watched Madge Undersee in her tight black party dress, her blonde curls longer than he remembers them, laughing with Peeta’s older brother. Gale gritted his teeth. He had no right to be jealous, obviously, but that didn’t stop him from feeling it. Madge looked away for a second and caught his eye, and he swore and averted his eyes. He needed someone to talk to, quick, so that it didn’t look like he was ogling her. 

He saw Johanna on the couch and made a beeline for her, hoping she wouldn’t mind her conversation with Finnick being interrupted. After a while of talking to her he relaxed and let his eyes wander back to Madge. After all this time, he still couldn’t stop looking at her. It was starting to be a serious problem. (Ha, starting. It’s always been a problem.) He watched as she made her way into the kitchen, and decided that he needed another beer. 

Her back was turned to him as she picked at some of the appetizers that Katniss and Peeta had put out, and she jumped when he cleared his throat. 

“Oh, Gale. I didn’t hear you come in.” He and Katniss were always good at that, considering the amount of hunting they did when they were younger. Peeta was always complaining about it. “How… um, how are you?” She blushed the prettiest shade of pink when she said it and he had to busy himself with getting a beer out of the fridge so that he wouldn’t think about it too much. 

“Fine,” he grunted out, and cursed himself under his breath. He wished that he could be more articulate, but around her he turned into a stupid caveman. “I, uh, saw you talking to Rye earlier.” There, he was making conversation. He could do this. 

“Yeah, we um, dated… for a while. In college.”

“Oh.”  _Great job, Hawthorne_ , he thought to himself.  _You’re killing it_. 

“Listen, Gale, you don’t have to pretend to be nice to me. I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice.” Madge looked down at her hands, twisting them together, and Gale let out a sharp breath. 

He could swear that his heart was leaping out of his chest. Did she know? He thought he’d kept it a pretty good secret, but obviously not if she knew this entire time. 

“I know you hate me.”

“Undersee, that’s not-”

“Gale, honestly, don’t worry about it. Not everyone likes me, I get it.”

“Madge,” he snapped, and she finally looked up. “That’s not even close to being the truth. Hate you, I-” he let out a small, self-deprecating laugh, and before he could get out the rest of the sentence Finnick popped his head in. 

“They’re about to open presents, man, thought you’d wanna see.” His eyes flicked back and forth between Gale and Madge, widening in realization, and he gave Gale an apologetic look. Gale glanced at Madge one last time, who was looking at him with her eyebrows knit together, obviously confused. He was too chicken to say anything else, and followed Finn out of the kitchen.  


End file.
